Observation of the charmed baryon Λc in e+e− annihilation at 10 GeV

Abstract Using the ARGUS detector at DORIS II, we have studied the production of the charmed baryon Λ c in e + e − annihilation at centre-of-mass energies near 10 GeV. The Λ c + was seen in the three decay modes pK − π + , Λπ + π − π + and K 0 p, with products of normalized cross section times branching ratio [ R ·Br] of (10.8±1.4±1.2)×10 −3 , 6.6±1.5±0.9)×10 −3 and (6.7±1.4±0.8)×10 −3 respectively. The measured mass for the Λ c was (2283.1±1.7±2.0) MeV/ c 2 . A limit on the decay rates to Λπ + is reported. The fragmentation function of the Λ c was measured.